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Sometimes a mountain lion would come 










FIRECRACKER 

The Wild Bronco 


jy 3 ' > 

M. and C. W. GAUSS 

i \ 

Co-Author and Artist of 
Book of the Woods 
and 

Bang of the Diamond Tail 


JUNIOR PRESS BOOKS 

ALBERfXWHITMAN 
4 co 

CHICAGO 









MAY -8 1937 

©Cl A 1 0631 8 


rz , 0 

• i 
. Gc 


Copyright, 1937, by 
ALBERT WHITMAN & COMPANY 


Lithographed in the United States 













3 $ ^ 



FIRECRACKER 


F IRECRACKER was a wild bronco and he lived 
on a prairie dotted with yellow sunflowers. He 
played with other wild broncos, running and 
jumping together. They had no work to do. 

Sometimes a mountain lion would come down from 
the mountain; but all the wild broncos would kick at 
him and make him run home. 

One day, Firecracker was kicking up dirt and mak¬ 
ing a noise, “Nicker, nicker!” Suddenly he saw cow¬ 
boys coming, with ropes on their saddles. 

Firecracker jumped so high he kicked off a yellow 
sunflower. He ran, lickety-cut. The cowboys rode 
after him, galloping, galloping, trot, trot. 


5 








Soon a rope came over his head and fell around his 
legs, throwing him down on his side. Firecracker lay 
kicking on the prairie. He was very frightened as he 
did not know what would happen to him. 

The cowboys said, “Let us take this wild bronco to 
the rodeo.” 

A rodeo is a show at which cowboys ride the wild¬ 
est horses they can find. 

The cowboys had many wild broncos. They drove 
Firecracker and all the others down a road, many 
miles, until they all came to Rodeo Park. They put 
all the wild broncos into a pen. 

Next morning, people began coming to the rodeo, 
and each paid a dollar to see the show. Firecracker 
could get in for nothing but he did not want to go to 
the rodeo. 














GW QrP\U S} 



But Firecracker threw Buster off 









































































A cowboy drove him into a narrow pen called a 
chute. By this time, the grandstand was filled with 
people. A man named Mr. Barker shouted: “Cowboy 
Buster is coming out of Chute Number Three on Fire¬ 
cracker.” 

Then Cowboy Buster got on Firecracker’s back. A 
cowboy opened the gate of the chute, and Firecracker 
ran out with Buster on his back. 

All the people cheered. This frightened Fire¬ 
cracker. He did not know what Buster meant to do 
to him; so he started bucking. His back went up and 
down—see-saw. Mr. Barker said any cowboy who 
could stay on might have the bronco. But Fire¬ 
cracker threw Buster off, then he ran and jumped over 
a fence. 






























Firecracker thought he would run home to his wild 
prairie and hide under the sunflowers. But the cow¬ 
boys drove him into the chute again. 

Many cowboys tried to ride him, but he threw them 
all into the dirt. People said, “What a fine show!” But 
Firecracker did not like the rodeo at all; he would 
never go to another rodeo if he could help it. 

Ted was a very young cowboy, but he thought he 
could ride Firecracker. “I am afraid you will get hurt 
if you try to ride such a mean horse,” Mr. Barker said. 

“He is not mean, he is just frightened,” answered 
Ted. So they let him get on Firecracker, in the chute. 
Then Mr. Barker called: “Ted White is coming out of 
Chute Number Three, on Firecracker.” 

Firecracker ran out before the grandstand. He 
started to buck, so Ted’s sister Maud began to cry. 
But Ted was a good rider. He stayed on, and he 
talked softly to Firecracker. He said, “Don’t be fright¬ 
ened, because I won’t hurt you.” 

Finally Firecracker stopped bucking and went gal¬ 
loping around the fence. Then Mr. Barker said, “Ted 
White may have Firecracker for his own.” 

After the rodeo, Ted and his father and Maud came 
to look at Firecracker. “He is a pretty horse,” said 
Maud. 


9 



“It is a good thing he is young. If a bronco runs 
wild until he is old no person can train him,” an¬ 
swered Mr. White. 

They took Firecracker home to their cattle ranch. 
The ranch was on a mountain, far from the prairie 
and the sunflowers. 

There Ted tried to ride his new horse. But Fire¬ 
cracker did not understand why any person wanted to 
get on his back. He kicked and bucked but Ted was 
kind to him and gave him nice things to eat. So at 
last Firecracker let Ted ride him. 

Mr. White told Ted that he might ride Firecracker 
to the roundup. Ted rode all day with the other cow¬ 
boys. They went into mountain canyons to find Mr. 
White’s cattle. At last they came to a mountain river, 
and there they made camp. 


10 












Then Ted wo\e up and patted him 























































First Ted hobbled Firecracker. He tied his front 
legs together with a strip of burlap. If he had used a 
rope, it would have cut Firecracker’s legs. Ted did not 
tie the burlap tight; Firecracker could take short 
steps, but he could not go far from camp. 

The cowboys built a fire. They cooked bacon and 
boiled coffee and made flapjacks which they ate for 
supper. Firecracker went along the river and ate sweet 
grass for his supper. 

Soon he came to the edge of a black canyon. He 
heard a sound of some wild animal sneaking along the 
canyon, and it frightened him so that he hid behind 
a tree. 

When he thought the wild animal had gone he again 
came out to eat grass. The sun went down. The camp 
fire went out. The cowboys lay on the ground with 
saddles for pillows. Soon they all were asleep. 

The night was black and still. Something came out 
of the canyon and yelled, and all the wild cattle ran 
away to hide. 

Firecracker knew what it was that yelled—a moun¬ 
tain lion. He stood still and his legs shook from fear. 
He did not know where the other horses were. The 
wind blew and he smelled the lion. He was more 
frightened than before. 


12 



At last Firecracker knew what to do. He hobbled 
to the place where the cowboys lay asleep, and put his 
nose on Ted’s neck. Then Ted woke up and patted 
him and said, “Firecracker, don’t be scared. I will take 
care of you.” 

After this, Ted and Firecracker were great friends. 
When they went home from the roundup, they had 
fine times together. Ted taught Firecracker a trick. 
He said, “Firecracker, when I dig in my heels you 
must buck.” 

Firecracker did not understand words. But he 
learned to buck when Ted dug in his heels. 

Ted had a rodeo in the corral. Maud sat on the 
fence, and they played it was a grandstand. 

Maud said, “That is a mean horse.” 

Ted answered: “He is not mean, and I am going to 
keep him always.” 


13 




















OAO^ 


“I am afraid you can’t/’ said Maud, “I think we 
will soon move to the city, and then you cannot keep 
him.” 

Just then, Mr. White came along. 

Maud asked him: “Father, aren’t we going to move 
to the city and live in an apartment?” 

“Yes, we are,” replied Mr. White. 

Ted said, “I don’t care, if I may keep Firecracker.” 

Maud laughed and said, “An apartment has about 
two rooms and a bath. Where would you keep a 
horse?” 

Mr. White said, “I am sorry, Ted, but you will have 
to sell Firecracker.” 


14 












“Nicker, nicker,” said Firecracker as he put his nose 
into Ted’s hand. He would have felt very sad if he 
had understood. 

Mr. White bought an automobile to take them all 
to the city. He put the automobile into the shed in 
the corral. 

Firecracker did not like the noise it made as it came 
in, and he did not like the smell. He thought it 
smelled worse than a mountain lion, so he stayed as 
far away as he could. 

A Mr. Berry came to ask if he could buy Fire¬ 
cracker. Ted felt sad, but he said, “I will have to sell 
him.” 


15 







So Mr. Berry paid Ted for the horse, but he said, “I 
will not take him now, I will come for him tomorrow.” 

When it grew dark, Ted came out to the corral and 
hugged Firecracker. He said: “Goodbye. I doubt if 
you will ever see me again.” 

Firecracker did not understand. He just said, 
“Nicker, nicker.” 

The next day, Mr. Berry came for his horse. 

Ted caught Firecracker and put a bridle on him. 
Then he gave Mr. Berry the bridle and said sadly, 
“He is your horse now.” 

Mr. Berry had a truck in which to take Firecracker. 
Firecracker did not like the truck. Its large, round 
eyes looked mean to him, and he was sure it tried to 
bite him. So he kicked and squealed and did not 
want to get in the truck. But Mr. Berry made him. 

Firecracker would rather walk than ride. He was 
glad when Mr. Berry let him get out. Mr. Berry put 
him into a big corral. There was a sign which said: 
RIDING HORSES 
$1.00 AN HOUR 

Mr. Berry’s place was on an automobile road. Fire¬ 
cracker never had liked automobiles, so he did not like 
his new home. He stood by the corral fence and said, 
“Nicker, nicker!” He was calling Ted. But Ted was 
far away. 


16 



Soon a boy named Earl came to Mr. Berry, and 
gave him a dollar. He said, “I want to ride Fire¬ 
cracker.” 

Mr. Berry put a saddle on Firecracker and Earl got 
on his back. As they went out through the gate, Earl 
hit Firecracker with a stick. This hurt Firecracker, 
but as he was trying to be good, he did not cut up. 

They went along a road until they met some cattle 
with long horns. Earl was frightened and dug his 
heels into Firecracker. 

Firecracker thought this meant for him to buck as 
Ted had taught him. So he began to buck, and Earl 
screamed, “Help, help!” 

He could not stay on a bucking horse. Soon he was 
thrown to the grass and hurt his knee. He said, “You 
are a mean horse, I shall tell your master on you.” 
With that Firecracker ran away. 


17 











Firecracker did not understand. He thought a 
horse could have the master he loved. He thought the 
cattle ranch was still his home—so he ran there as fast 
as he could. 

There Mr. Berry found him. He said, “You are a 
bad horse!” Then he whipped him with a switch. But 
Firecracker did not know what it was for. 

Mr. Berry took him home to the big corral again. 

Many boys tried to ride Firecracker, but they all 
dug in their heels and made Firecracker think they 
wanted him to buck. Each time he bucked, his rider 
would fall off. Each time this happened, his rider told 
Mr. Berry. Each time, Mr. Berry had to give the 
money back. 

At last Mr. Berry said, “That horse is so mean no¬ 
body can ride him. He will have to be a pack pony.” 

Pack ponies are the horses that have to carry heavy 
loads up mountain trails. No horse likes to be a pack 
pony. 


18 







Then he piled his things on the pac\saddle 







































































One day, Earl and another boy came. They said, 
“We are going camping and we need a pack pony.” 

Mr. Berry was not at home but Mrs. Berry said, 
“You may take Firecracker if you can fix the pack on 
him.” 

Earl said, “I know all about fixing packs.” 

Mrs. Berry gave him the harness, the pack saddle 
and a nice soft blanket. So Earl began to make up the 
pack. 

In packing a horse, men use a blanket to keep hard 
things from hurting the horse’s back. 

Earl was just bragging; he never had made a pack 
in his life. He did not know the blanket should go on 
first. He put the packsaddle on Firecracker; then he 
piled his things on the packsaddle. He took along a 
cot, a sheet-iron stove, and many pans and pots. Then 
he spread the blanket over the top. 

“We need a bridle, to lead our pack pony,” he said. 
He did not ask Mrs. Berry for one, but went and got 
a bridle with a very stiff bit. 

When he thought all was ready, he jerked this bri¬ 
dle, and it hurt Firecracker’s mouth. “Don’t be lazy. 
Get up,” cried Earl. 

Firecracker could not help tossing his head. Earl 
said, “This pony is mean. He wants to cut up.” 


20 


Earl rode a black horse and led Firecracker. He 
kept jerking the bridle, so Firecracker could not tell 
what Earl wanted him to do. Soon Firecracker’s 
mouth was bleeding. 

The boys rode up a mountain trail and dragged 
Firecracker along. At last they stopped near a spring 
with a stream flowing from it. They had a nice lunch 
of sandwiches and candy bars. The riding horses had 
oats and grass. But Firecracker’s mouth was so sore 
he could not eat. 

When the boys were ready to start on, Firecracker 
went to work again without his dinner. 

“Let’s go to the top of this wild mountain,” said 
Earl to his companion. 

They came to a rocky place, so steep a horse could 
hardly keep from slipping. A deer came out of the 
pine forest, a coyote trotted across the road. 





Firecracker needed the soft blanket. Those sharp 
things he had to carry made sores on his back. The 
frying pan bruised his stomach. His mouth was still 
sore. He hung his head; and if he had been a person 
and not a horse, he would have cried. 

They reached a level place. Earl said, “Let us 
make our horses go faster.” The riding horses went 
galloping, galloping. And Earl jerked Firecracker, to 
make him gallop too. 

Even when he walked, each step hurt Firecracker. 
When he had to gallop, with his heavy pack, he could 
not bear the pain. He pulled the bridle away from 
Earl and ran across a flat place called a mesa. 

“Firecracker is the meanest horse in the world,” said 
Earl. Then both boys chased him. Firecracker ran 
under some trees and scraped off his pack. The frying 
pan went into the river. The cot was broken. He could 












As it grew dar\ Firecracker was badly frightened 












run faster without his pack—but he slipped and hurt 
his leg. He limped up into a little gulch, and there the 
boys caught him. 

Earl said, “Our bed is broken. Our cooking things 
are lost. We cannot camp, so we’ll have to go home.” 

Both boys thought it would be best to tie Fire¬ 
cracker to a tree. Earl said, “We can leave him here 
and tell Mr. Berry to come and get him. But Mrs. 
Berry will have to give us our money back.” 

“I know all about making knots and tying horses,” 
said Earl, as he tied Firecracker to a pine tree. “The 
harder a horse pulls the tighter my knot gets.” 

Firecracker had such a sore mouth he did not want 
to pull at the knot. Flies buzzed around the raw sores 
on his back, and he could not drive them away. 

Chipmunks played about his feet. A spotted fawn 
came and looked at him. Soon the sun went down. 
The fawn ran home to its mother, the chipmunks ran 
home to their holes. Firecracker was lonely. 

He looked down into the black canyon and heard 
the wild roar of the river. He saw the dark doorway 
of a cave where some wild animal lived. 

As it grew dark Firecracker was badly frightened. 
He was all alone on the wild mountain. He could not 
run away. His leg was hurt so he could not kick. 


24 



Soon the evening wind blew and he smelled a moun¬ 
tain lion. It was time for mountain lions to come out, 
after sleeping all day. Firecracker snorted. He walked 
around and around the tree trying to get away, and 
his eyes looked fiery red. 

The moon came up and made black shadows. It 
was night. 

All the animals that slept in the daytime were get¬ 
ting up. Bats came out of caves where they had been 
sleeping. A porcupine came down out of a pine tree. 
Then Firecracker heard the yell of the mountain lion, 
and he knew she was getting up for the night. 

Firecracker kept very still. Soon the lion leaped 
out of her black cave and stood on a rock. She looked 
like a common cat but was many times as large. 

She could not smell as well as a dog or a wolf, so she 
did not know a horse was near. But she stood still, 
listening for sounds in the night. 


25 



The mountain lion kept turning her head around. 
Firecracker was so frightened he tried to break the 
rope that tied him. It was the kind of rope called by 
cowboys a lariat. A horse could not break a lariat. 

Firecracker pulled at the lariat. He was so fright¬ 
ened he could not keep quiet, so he gave a loud whin¬ 
ny of fear. If Ted had been there to hear he would 
have come running to help. 

The only one that heard was the lion. She jumped 
over a small tree and looked around. Firecracker tried 
to hide behind his pine tree. 

One end of the lariat hung down and he happened 
to step on it. This frightened him more, and he start¬ 
ed pulling. 

Earl had bragged. He had said he knew how to 
make knots. But this one was not made right. If one 
end was pulled it would come untied. 

The knot came untied, and Firecracker was loose. 


26 





Firecracker ran down the mountain and the lion 
chased him. His leg was still sore. The lariat hung 
down and nearly tripped him, but he ran on and on. 

He had come to a wide mesa. Little bushes grew 
all over it, and the moonlight made them look white, 
like snow. Firecracker did not see the lion anywhere, 
so he thought she had gone away. 

In the middle of the mesa was a tree. In the middle 
of the tree was something large and dark. It looked 
to Firecracker like a magpie’s nest. 

As he was not afraid of magpies, he started across 
the mesa. 

He walked along a game trail that went toward the 
tree. A game trail is a trail made by wild animals. 

But as Firecracker went along he did not see any 
coyotes, or packrats or other night animals. He might 
have known by this that they were all hiding from 
something. 


27 


When he was near the tree he stopped to look at the 
large dark thing in the middle. It did not look like a 
magpie’s nest after all. He was not sure what it was. 
But he saw a long, thin rope hanging down. This 
moved back and forth. 

At first, Firecracker thought the wind was blowing 
it. But there was no wind, so he knew it was moving 
itself. It was a tail. It was not a coyote’s tail. It was 
not a deer’s tail. Coyotes and deer did not climb trees. 

He smelled lion. That rope hanging down was the 
mountain lion’s tail. She had gone jumping over the 
mesa to head him off, and now she was waiting up in 
the tree. 

Firecracker was more frightened than ever before 
in his life. He started to run. He ran on and on, and 
the lion jumped down and chased him. Soon he came 
to a river. He ran along the bank until he came to a 
ford. 

A ford is a crossing where the water is not deep. 
Firecracker ran across the ford. 

The lion had jumped across the river and was close 
behind him. Firecracker was lost on the mountain. He 
did not know which way to go. But he ran on and 
soon came to a road he remembered. He had once 
been here with Ted on his back. 


28 


He came to a place where Ted and the other cow¬ 
boys once had camped. 

From this camp, Firecracker knew the way to the 
cattle ranch. He ran and ran until he could see the 
cattle ranch. It was nearly morning and he was very 
tired. 

The fence had fallen down, so he ran over it. The 
lion climbed a tree. She wanted to look around and 
see if there were people near. 

Firecracker ran past a windmill where he used to 
drink. There was no water in the trough, and every¬ 
thing was quiet. He ran until he came to the corral. 

The gate was open, so he ran in. He was so tired he 
had to lean against the shed. 

By this time the lion felt sure no person lived at 
the ranch, so she jumped down and came across the 
fence. 

Firecracker looked out of the corral. He saw the 
lion sneaking past the windmill. Then he saw her 
again close to the chicken house. He began to whinny 
in fear. 

The ranch house was quite near the corral, its door 
opened and a boy ran out. The lion was in the dark 
by the chicken house. But the boy made a large flash¬ 
light shine into her eyes. 


29 




Then she was more frightened than Firecracker. 
She jumped over the chicken house and ran away. 

“Hello, Firecracker,” called Ted as he ran to him. 
“We came home three days ago. Mother and Father 
did not like the apartment.” 

Mr. White came running out. Ted cried, “Dad, my 
own horse came back.” 

Mr. White said, “He is not your horse. You sold 
him.” 

Ted answered, “I will give Mr. Berry’s money 
back.” 

“But Mr. Berry does not have to sell Firecracker 
back to you. Tomorrow you must take him home.” 

It grew light. Ted saw that Firecracker’s mouth 
was bleeding. He was angry about the sore places on 
Firecracker’s back. 

Ted fixed a soft mash which did not hurt Fire¬ 
cracker’s mouth, and after breakfast Firecracker felt 
much better. Then Ted put a halter on him. But he 
would not get on a horse with a sore back. He rode 
another horse and led Firecracker all the way. 

Firecracker did not know where they were going. 
But he felt that his troubles were over because he had 
found his own master. 

Soon they came to Mr. Berry’s ranch. 


30 






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Then Ted put a halter on him 




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Ted said, “I wish you would look at this horse. His 
back is sore. There is a bruise on his stomach. His 
mouth is bleeding.” 

“I see. The boys did not fix the pack right. They 
did not know any better,” said Mr. Berry. 

Ted answered, “They could learn better if they 
would try. Firecracker cannot understand, so I think 
the boys are the mean ones.” 

“That is true,” said Mr. Berry. “But Firecracker 
cannot learn to do my work. I wish I could sell him.” 

Ted pulled the money from his pocket, “All right, 
you can sell him to me.” 

“Firecracker, you are my horse now,” said Ted, joy¬ 
fully. 

Firecracker seemed to understand and he felt hap¬ 
py. He said, “Nicker, nicker!” Then he gladly went 
home to the cattle ranch with Ted. 

Ted went on training Firecracker. Firecracker was 
no longer a wild bronco. He was a cowpony because 
he knew how to work. He could help Ted throw a 
calf. He could pull the rope just as tight as it ought to 
be. 

Firecracker was a happy horse because he had a 
master who knew how horses felt. 


32 
















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